High School Fishing - Emily Walker from Buna wins 3rd event on RayburnCharacter, Honesty and Sportsmanship shine through

Updated 3:53 pm, Monday, March 3, 2014

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Lone angler Emily Walker championed the event, catching a five fish limit weighing 19.28 lbs. She is congratulated by her father & boat captain, school coach and tournament directors John Salamone & Ray Beck
Photo by Jeff Reedy less

Lone angler Emily Walker championed the event, catching a five fish limit weighing 19.28 lbs. She is congratulated by her father & boat captain, school coach and tournament directors John Salamone & Ray Beck ... more

High School Fishing - Emily Walker from Buna wins 3rd event on RayburnCharacter, Honesty and Sportsmanship shine through

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Emily Walker from Buna weighed in 5 fish totaling 19.28 lbs to win the 3rd SETX high school fishing tournament on Sam Rayburn. Emily was fishing without her partner as he had to play in a baseball tournament but her boat captain who happened to be her dad put her on the fish. She stated that she caught her big fish right off the bat at around 7 A.M. with an Alabama rig and caught others using a rattle tap fishing shallow. Overall she caught 12 fish throughout the day culling until she had her winning total of 19.28 lbs. The fish she caught at 7 A.M. weighed 7.79 pounds so she additionally won the award with the second heaviest lunker of the tournament, as well as $1,500 for her school club. What a day!Emily had a scare when the team from LCM consisting of Bryce Rambo and Trent Manuel as they tipped the scales with 5 fish weighing 24.41 pounds including a kicker of 9.97 pounds. However, they voluntarily withdrew when they realized that one of them had left their fishing license in their gym bag at school. A very classy move. Each angler must have their fishing license in their possession as a tournament rule and a state law. What a heart breaker. This is a prime example of what these tournaments teach these young anglers. How proud must their parents be, as well as all other fisherman that has ever been in this position. This is why these tournaments are so important, as it helps to teach these young people character, honesty, integrity and of course sportsmanship.

Todd Faircloth made a surprise appearance and he reiterated what these tournaments mean. He stated that all the volunteers need to be thanked as it is great for the fishing industry and the kids. "These kids are the future of the industry," according to Faircloth and as he stated, "today you may see a future (Bassmaster) Classic Champion cross the stage."

For their first year, the SETX High School Fishing Association is having a banner year. They held their third event on Saturday March 1 at Cassels Boykin Park on Sam Rayburn to an overflowing crowd. There were a total of 233 teams representing 31 schools at the event. This represents about two thirds of the total teams that could have fished, as a total of 336 teams are registered members of the Association. What a great experience - and the interest in these young anglers is growing after each tournament, according to tournament emcee John Salamone, who, along with many other volunteers, has worked tirelessly on setting up the tournaments on Rayburn.

John Salamone's Farmers Insurance Agency & Dr. Tom Selman Chiropractic added to the Exact Weight Bonus, increasing the total to $1,250 to any school team that weighed in an exact 3 pound bass. That happened as Tyler Landry and Gerrard Laughlin had an exact weight of 3 pounds making their day a huge success.

When the scales opened at 2:30, it didn't take long to form a long line at the weigh tanks as these high schoolers were anxious to show off their catches. The top 23 teams, who received checks for their school club, are shown below.

The biggest official bass of the tournament was 8.14 pounds as was weighed from a team representing Hardin Jefferson High school consisting of Dylan Gore and Allen Edelmon.

There were many give-aways to participants from various sponsors and businesses. Some of the merchandise given away included rods, reels, and apparel from Lews, as well as goodie bags from the sponsor schools. Sunbelt Sales awarded two Costa Del Mar gift certificates for $250 each for anglers registered in the Costa contingency program. Weaver motors, MeadWestVaco, Coastal Industries, Maxim cranes, Jonson Controls, Biscamp Electric, Academy, Eastex Federal Credit Union were sponsors of the event as well. John Salamone's Farmers Insurance Agency awarded the highest finishing team with a policy from the Salamone Agency an additional $100. The team of Logan Wood and Josh Rowe won this bonus through their boat captain, Brian Williford who also received a $100 check. The team also received new Lew's reels valued at $100 each.

This event was hosted by Buna, Hardin-Jefferson, Kountze, Kirbyville and PNG schools. The next tournament is scheduled March 30, at Sam Rayburn's Umphrey Family Pavilion and the host schools will be Jasper, Chester and Huntington.

The season will wrap up April 12 for the SETX High School Fishing Association, then all teams who have qualified to fish the championship will compete for the title in a two day event, May 17-18.